“Today marks a significant milestone for CEPA members – because today we test our ability to effectively collaborate, communicate and respond to a pipeline emergency,” said Dr. Brenda Kenny, CEPA’s president and CEO, during the inaugural CEPA Joint Emergency Management Exercise in Edmonton, Alta.

“MEAA is really what we are exercising – focusing on the lessons learned (during the exercise) and collaborating as an industry,” said Stephen Lloyd, senior manager of emergency and security management at Enbridge Pipelines and chair of the committee that planned the emergency management exercise.

Effectively coordinating emergency response

Under the MEAA, the pipeline company requesting assistance directs the overall emergency response. Other member companies work within Incident Command System (ICS) protocols while providing assistance to ensure the response is effective and efficient and communication is kept open. (ICS is a management system used by many pipeline operators for the command, control and coordination of emergency response.)

Wednesday’s simulation was a functional exercise, which means emergency protocols were carried out from an active command post, but people and equipment were not moved to a real site.

The exercise helped CEPA’s member companies test and refine the industry’s collaboration during an emergency by improving overall communication and response.

“Any incident is everyone’s incident”

Pipeline companies are required by regulations to conduct their own emergency response drills. However, Wednesday’s joint exercise was not mandatory. It was organized by CEPA’s members because they want to have a well-tested plan in place and they want to continuously improvepipeline safety by working together.

“CEPA member companies have voluntarily chosen through MEAA to work together and improve response capabilities by sharing resources and best practices during an emergency,” said Kenny. “This collaboration is an indication that in our industry, when it comes to safety, there is no competition, but only collaboration. Any incident is everyone’s incident.”

Learn more next week

The CEPA Joint Emergency Management Exercise also included a showcase of emergency response equipment. Next week’s blog post will explore and explain some of the specialized equipment that pipeline operators have ready to respond to emergencies in different terrains and seasons.

The Canadian Energy Pipeline Association represents Canada’s transmission pipeline companies who operate approximately 115,000 kilometres of pipelines in Canada. In 2013, these energy highways moved approximately 1.2 billion barrels of liquid petroleum products and 5.3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Our members transport 97 per cent of Canada’s daily natural gas and onshore crude oil from producing regions to markets throughout North America.